LIBRARY 

-,YiVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
DAVIS 


DELIVERED    ISKI'OU!-;    TIIK 


NE\V  YORK    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY 


I  ^RN  T  \ r- SECOND    A  X\ 7  /  'EkSA  R  ) ', 


V,   HMCKMUKR  '19,   1876. 


F  RED  E  R  I  C     DI:    P  E  Y  S  T  E  R ,    L  E .  I) 

I'KKSIDKNT    OF    TIIK    SOCIKTY. 


"NEW    YORK: 
HLLSPlEI)    FOR    THI-:    SOCIKTY 

ISSUED    FEiiRUAkv  22,    1877. 


DELIVERED   BEFORE   THE 


NEW- YORK   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY, 


AT   THE   CELEBRATION   OF   ITS 


SEVENTY-SECOND    ANNIVERSARY, 


TUESDAY,  DECEMBER  19,  1876. 


BY 


FREDERIC    DE    PEYSTER,    LL.D., 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE   SOCIETY. 


NEW   YORK: 
PUBLISHED   FOR  THE  SOCIETY. 

MDCCCLXXVI, 


LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
DAVIS 


SEVENTY-SECOND   ANNIVERSARY. 

AT  a  special  meeting  of  the  NEW  YORK  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY, 
held  in  its  Hall,  on  Tuesday  evening,  December  19,  1876,  to  cele- 
brate the  Seventy-second  Anniversary  of  the  founding  of  the  Soci- 
ety, the  First  Vice-president,  WILLIAM  CULLEN  BRYANT,  LL.D., 
presided. 

In  accordance  with  the  course  observed  on  similar  commemora- 
tive occasions  the  Rev.  WILLIAM  ADAMS,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  and  Presi- 
dent of  the  Union  Theological  Seminary,  New  York,  at  the  request 
of  the  presiding  officer  offered  up  a  very  impressive  and  appropri- 
ate prayer. 

Mr.  Bryant  then  introduced  the  President  of  the  Society  as  the 
orator  of  the  evening,  and  said  : 

Gentlemen  of  the  New  York  Historical  Society — The  gentleman  whom  your 
suffrages  have  constituted  the  President  of  this  Society  needs  no  formal  intro- 
duction from  me  when  about  to  appear  before  you.  Lately  we  listened  with 
interest  to  a  discourse  of  his,  which  may  be  designated  as  a  monograph  of  Wil- 
liam the  Third.  This  evening  he  will  conduct  us  through  what  I  may  call  a 
gallery  of  the  intellectual  portraits  of  the  representative  men  by  whom  the  reign 
of  that  monarch  was  illustrated.  I  present  to  you  Mr.  de  Peyster,  who  wil 
address  you. 

The  President,  FREDERIC  DE  PEYSTER,  LL.D.,  then  delivered 
the  Anniversary  Address,  the  subject  being  :  "  Representative 
Men  of  the  English  Revolution." 

On  the  conclusion  of  the  address,  Hon.  JAMES  W.  BEEKMAN, 
Second  Vice-president,  submitted  a  resolution,  and  spoke  as 
follows  : 

I  submit  to  the  Society  a  proposition  which  I  am  sure  will  meet  with  an 
unanimous  response : 

To  the  wise  care  of  the  Dutch  Stadtholder,  who  was  afterwards  William  the 
Third  of  England,  the  Colonies  that  became  these  United  States  of  America 
owed  much. 

Education  and  liberty  of  conscience,  brought  over  by  him  from  Holland 
into  England,  were  in  turn  transmitted  under  his  government  to  the  Western 
Continent. 


The  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  into  Foreign  Parts  was 
chartered  by  William  III.,  and  was  the  crowning  glory  of  a  ruler  who  had 
vetoed  the  Massachusetts  law  that  punished  witchcraft  with  death,  had  estab- 
lished William  and  Mary  College  in  Virginia,  originated  the  Society  Library 
in  New  York,  sent  Halley  the  astronomer  to  America,  and  instructed  the  Earl 
of  Bellomont  to  educate  the  people  at  large,  including  the  Negroes  and  the 
Indians. 

Such  a  sovereign  drew  around  him  men  of  like  ability,  and  for  the  admirable 
commemoration  just  given  us  of  John  Locke,  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  Dryden,  Dean 
Swift,  Bishop  Stillingfleet,  Sir  William  Temple,  and  Marlborough,  our  hearty 
thanks  are  due. 

It  is  fitting  that  a  descendant  of  Col.  Abraham  de  Peyster — who,  as  Senior 
and  Presiding  Member  of  the  King's  Council,  administered  pro.  tern,  the  affairs 
of  this  Province,  in  1700 — should  remind  us  of  these  illustrious  contemporaries 
and  subjects  of  the  Great  Hollander  who  secured  in  England  the  liberty  of  the 
press  and  of  religion,  and  who  established  there  honest  finance  and  ministerial 
responsibility. 

Abraham  de  Peyster,  as  Alderman,  Mayor  of  New  York  City,  Colonel  com- 
manding the  Militia,  Horse  and  Foot,  of  the  City  and  County  of  New  York, 
Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  Treasurer  of  the  Provinces  of  New  York 
and  New  Jersey,  was  eminent  as  a  defender  of  popular  freedom  in  the  Colonies. 
He  was  virtually  the  Finance  Minister  on  whom  a  succession  of  the  Royal 
Governors  relied,  and  he  deserves  to  be  ranked  among  the  ablest  public  men 
of  the  reign  of  the  Third  William  of  England. 

I  move,  therefore,  the  adoption  of  the  following  resolution  : 

Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  the  Society  be  presented  to  the  President  of  the 
Society,  FREDERIC  DE  PEYSTER,  Esq.,  LL.D.,  for  his  learned  and  able  ad- 
dress delivered  before  the  Society  this  evening,  and  that  a  copy  be  requested  for 
publication. 

Mr.  Bryant,  on  putting  the  question,  said  : 

You  have  heard  the  resolution,  gentlemen ;  it  is  seconded,  and  I  am  sure  will 
meet  with  your  hearty  approval.  The  profound  attention  which  you  have  given 
to  the  discourse  of  our  President  testifies  to  your  sense  of  its  merits,  and  you  will 
readily  adopt  a  resolution  which  so  well  expresses  the  pleasure  it  has  given  us. 

The  resolution  was  adopted  unanimously. 

[Extract  from  the  Minutes.] 

ANDREW  WARNER, 

Recording  Secretary. 


OFFICERS  OF  THE  SOCIETY,  1876. 


PRESIDENT, 

FREDERIC  DE  PEYSTER,  LL.D. 


FIRST   VICE-PRESIDENT, 

WILLIAM  CULLEN  BRYANT,  LL.D. 


SECOND   VICE-PRESIDENT, 

JAMES  W.  BEEKMAN. 


FOREIGN    CORRESPONDING   SECRETARY, 

GEORGE  H.  MOORE,  LL.D. 


DOMESTIC   CORRESPONDING   SECRETARY, 

EVERT  A.  DUYCKINCK. 


RECORDING   SECRETARY, 

ANDREW  WARNER. 


TREASURER, 

BENJAMIN  H.  FIELD. 


LIBRARIAN, 

JOHN  AUSTIN  STEVENS. 


EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE. 


FIRST   CLASS— FOR   ONE   YEAR,    ENDING   1877. 

SAMUEL  OSGOOD,  D.D.,  WILLIAM  R.  MARTIN, 

CHARLES  P.  KIRKLAND,  LL.D. 

SECOND   CLASS — FOR   TWO   YEARS,    ENDING    1878. 

EDWARD  F.  DE  LANCEY,  HENRY  DRISLER,  LL.D., 

JAMES  H.  TITUS. 

.  THIRD    CLASS — FOR   THREE   YEARS,   ENDING   1879. 

JOHN  TAYLOR  JOHNSTON,    ERASTUS  C.  BENEDICT,  LL.D. 
ROBERT  LENOX  KENNEDY. 

FOURTH   CLASS— FOR   FOUR  YEARS,   ENDING   l88o. 

EVERT  A.  DUYCKINCK,  JAMES  WILLIAM  BEEKMAN, 

GEORGE  H.  MOORE,  LL.D. 

CHARLES  P.  KIRKLAND,  LL.D.,   Chairman. 
JOHN  AUSTIN  STEVENS,  Secretary. 

[The  President,  Recording  Secretary,  Treasurer,  and  Librarian  are  mem- 
bers, ex-officio,  of  the  Executive  Committee.] 


COMMITTEE  ON  THE  FINE  ARTS. 

A.  B.  DURAND,  JOHN  A.   WEEKS, 

ANDREW  WARNER,  EDWARD  SATTERLEE, 

WILLIAM  J.  HOPPIN,  CEPHAS  G.  THOMPSON. 

WILLIAM  J.  HOPPIN,    Chairman. 
ANDREW  WARNER,  Secretary. 

[The  President,  Librarian,  and  Chairman  of  the  Executive  Committee  are 
members,  ex-officio,  of  the  Committee  on  the  Fine  Arts.] 


REPRESENTATIVE    MEN 


OF  THE 


ENGLISH    REVOLUTION. 


HERE  is  no  period  more  memorable  in 
English  History  than  that  which  is  known 
as  the  English  Revolution.  This  period 
marks  a  transition  in  the  opinions  and  institutions 
of  England,  which  have  placed  that  country  in  the 
front  rank,  among  the  nations,  in  modern  progress 
and  reform.  Everything,  therefore,  which  helps  to 
illustrate  the  true  character  of  this  period  is  of  uni- 
versal interest,  especially  to  the  English  speaking 
populations  of  the  world. 

I  would  claim,  moreover,  that  the  whole  subject  of 
the  influence  which  produced,  and  the  effects  which 
have  followed  from  the  English  Revolution,  in  1688, 
is  of  the  deepest  possible  interest  to  us,  in  this  coun- 


io  Representative  Men  of  the 

try,  who  are  members  of  the  great  English  family, 
and  have  inherited  so  much  that  is  precious  and  glo- 
rious in  English  institutions  and  life.  In  this  centen- 
nial year,  in  which  we  celebrate,  under  such  auspicious 
circumstances,  the  close  of  the  first  century  of  our 
country's  history,  it  may  be  well  for  us  to  remember 
that,  in  addition  to  all  the  various  political,  intellectual, 
and  social  influences  which  come  to  us  from  the  period 
of  the  English  Revolution,  our  forefathers  of  a  hun- 
dred years  ago  found  in  that  memorable  event,  in 
their  mother  country,  the  principles  which  impera- 
tively demanded,  and  the  precedent  which  abundantly 
justified  the  American  Revolution. 

In  directing  your  thoughts  to  a  subject  so  vast  in 
its  relations  as  the  English  Revolution,  it  seems 
best  that  we  should  confine  our  attention  to  some 
prominent  and  significant  phase  of  that  period.  In 
pursuing  this  method,  we  shall  but  follow  the  advice 
of  Plato,  who  says  :  "  Let  us  pursue  the  inquiry,  not 
in  relation  to  all  ideas,  lest  the  multitude  of  them 
should  confuse  us,  but  let  us  select  a  few  of  those 
which  are  reckoned  to  be  the  principal  ones."  With 
the  purpose  of  bringing  out  as  fully  as  possible,  within 
the  brief  limits  permitted  me,  the  true  character  of 
this  period,  and  its  influence  in  establishing  those 
principles  of  which  we  claim,  in  this  country,  to  be, 
in  a  very  important  sense,  the  true  exponents,  I 
would  ask  your  attention  to  a  consideration  of  the 


English  Revolution.  1 1 

character  and  influence  of  some  of  the  prominent  men 
of  that  period.  In  carrying  out  this  purpose,  I  would 
select  those  men  who  may  be  regarded  as  typical  of 
the  class  to  which  they  belong — the  loftiest  peaks 
in  the  mountain  ranges  by  which  they  are  sur- 
rounded. 

There  is  a  very  common  tendency  to  exaggerate 
the  power  of  individual  influence  in  critical  periods 
in  history.  A  philosophical  view  of  history  will  rec- 
ognize in  it  a  divine  purpose  and  plan,  which  works 
out  its  ends  independently,  to  a  great  extent,  of  indi- 
vidual influence.  There  is  a  predetermined  devel- 
opment in  which  individuals  work  blindly,  without  a 
full  understanding  of  the  results  to  which  their  efforts 
contribute.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  it  would  be  un- 
philosophical  and  vain  to  deny  the  powerful  influence 
which  individuals  may  consciously  and  purposely 
exercise  upon  the  great  developments  of  history. 
They  are  divine  instruments,  and  still  self-conscious 
and  free,  in  the  evolution  of  the  grandest  processes 
and  results  in  the  progress  of  the  world. 

In  the  unfolding  of  this  subject  we  need  some  law 
by  which  the  grouping  of  these  representative  men 
may  be  determined.  There  must  be  some  principle 
which  will  give  unity  to  the  presentation,  and  show 
how  each  life,  in  its  own  sphere,  contributes  to  the 
result  contemplated  by  a  higher  power.  This  law  it 
is  not  difficult  to  discover,  and  this  unity  discloses 


12  Representative  Men  of  the 

itself  readily  to  the  thoughtful  mind.  The  spheres 
of  human  energy  and  power  which  sway  the  destinies 
of  mankind  are  found  in  metaphysics,  in  natural 
philosophy,  in  literature  and  poetry,  in  theology, 
and  ecclesiology,  in  statesmanship,  and  in  arms.  It 
is  my  purpose  to  select,  in  these  spheres  of  influence, 
those  who  may  be  justly  regarded  as  representative 
men  in  the  period  of  the  English  Revolution. 

The  grand  figure  among  them  aft,  which  first  rises 
before  our  view,  is  that  of  William,  the  Prince  of 
Orange,  the  third  of  that  name  upon  the  throne  of 
England.  The  splendor  of  his  lineage  ;  the  vast  re- 
sponsibility and  power  to  which  by  his  birth  he  found 
himself  called ;  the  wonderful  successes  which  he 
achieved  in  the  stupendous  objects,  both  in  his  own 
native  land  and  in  England,  which  he  purposed  to 
accomplish ;  the  magnificent  position  assigned  him,  by 
Providence,  as  the  principal  instrument  in  this  great 
crisis  in  England's  history,— all  these  invest  his 
career  with  unparalleled  interest  and  importance. 

This  central  and  most  prominent  figure  in  this  great 
drama  I  wish  to  approach  by  first  carefully  consid- 
ering the  position  and  influence  of  some  of  the  cele- 
brated men  by  whom  he  was  surrounded. 

In  turning  our  thoughts  to  the  realm  of  metaphys- 
ics or  speculative  philosophy,  we  find,  as  the  repre- 
sentative man  of  his  period,  no  less  distinguished  a 
philosopher  than  John  Locke.  Whatever  may  be 


WILLIAM     KONING    VAN     ENGELAND 

Schotland  Vrankryk  en  Yrland. 


English  Revolution.  13 

thought  of  the  character  and  effects  of  his  philosophy, 
there  have  been  few  men  in  the  history  of  the  world 
who  have  exercised  so  powerful  an  influence  upon 
the  opinions  and  practical  affairs  of  mankind.  John 
Locke  was  a  legitimate  outgrowth  of  those  tendencies 
in  human  thought  which  had  culminated  in  the  phi- 
losophy of  Lord  Bacon.  He  belonged  necessarily 
to  the  school,  although  he  would  have  dissented  from 
many  of  the  opinions,  of  the  French  Encyclopaedists, 
and  of  the  English  Utilitarians.  He  himself  imparted 
a  powerful  impulse  to  that  tendency,  which  finally 
took  form  in  the  utilitarian  ethics  of  Paley,  in  the 
theories  of  Jeremy  Bentham  and  James  and  John 
Stuart  Mill,  and  in  the  German  and  English  scientific 
materialism  of  the  present  day.  In  regard  to  very 
much  of  this  philosophical  development  we  cannot 
but  regard  the  influence  of  Locke  as  exceedingly  un- 
desirable ;  but  there  are  other  respects  in  which  he 
met  a  great  want  of  his  age,  and  contributed  pre-emi- 
nently to  the  solving  of  problems  of  the  greatest  im- 
portance to  the  world.  I  should  say  that  his  great 
merit  lay  in  restricting,  for  the  time  being,  the  limits 
of  human  inquiry,  and  thus  directing  all  the  energies 
of  the  mind  to  the  investigation  of  those  phenomena 
which  are  connected  with  the  material  interests  ot 
society.  In  the  time  of  the  English  Revolution,  when 
institutions  were  taking  to  themselves  new  shapes, 
this  careful  study  of  the  material  phenomena  of  life, 


14  Representative  Men  of  the 

upon  the  basis  of  observation  and  experience,  was  of 
pre-eminent  importance. 

The  life  of  John  Locke  touches  at  several  points 
some  of  the  most  prominent  events  connected  with 
the  English  Revolution.  He  was  born  in  1632,  and 
died  in  1704.  His  principal  work — the  Essay  on  the 
Human  Understanding — was  written  in  1670.  He 
held  various  offices  under  Government,  through  the 
favor  of  his  patron,  the  Earl  of  Shaftesbury.  When, 
in  1682,  Shaftesbury  fell  under  the  displeasure  of 
the  Government,  being  charged  with  high  treason, 
and  was  compelled  to  flee  to  Holland,  he  was  accom- 
panied by  Locke.  In  1688  his  celebrated  letter  to 
Limbarch  on  Toleration  was  published,  and  in  the 
same  year  he  returned  to  England  in  the  fleet  which 
bore  the  Prince  of  Orange.  He  immediately  received 
the  appointment  of  Commissioner  of  Appeals,  which 
he  held  until  the  failure  of  his  health.  He  refused  to 
hold  it  longer,  and  declined  a  higher  office  tendered 
him  by  the  king,  and  a  pension  from  the  Government, 
declaring  himself  unwilling  to  receive  any  emolument 
for  which  he  rendered  no  equivalent.  The  closing 
years  of  his  life  were  spent  in  the  study  of  the  Scrip- 
tures and  in  the  writing  of  works  illustrating  the 
truths  of  Christianity. 

The  sources  of  the  powerful  influence  which  Locke 
has  exercised  upon  the  thought  of  the  world  are  to 
be  found  mainly  in  his  two  works,  the  one  on  the 


MARIA    KO^rNGIN    VAN    BIT  GEL  AND 

Schotland  "Vranlcryk    en.  "XrLuid . 


English  Revolution.  15 

Human  Understanding,  the  other  on  Toleration.  In 
the  first  he  attempts  to  explode  the  theory  of  innate 
ideas,  and  to  base  all  knowledge  upon  observation 
and  experience.  Locke's  view  of  this  great  question 
is  undoubtedly  very  defective ;  but  it  acquired  such 
ascendency  that  it  became  one  of  the  most  fruitful 
causes  of  that  careful  consulting  of  observation  and 
experience,  and  that  eminently  practical  character, 
which  has  marked  the  political  administration  and 
reform  policy  of  England,  from  the  accession  of  Wil- 
liam and  Mary  to  the  present  day.  The  work  on 
Toleration  is  so  masterly  a  vindication  of  the  princi- 
ples upon  which  the  duty  and  expediency  of  Tolera- 
tion rest,  that  it  had  at  once  its  influence  in  determin- 
ing the  tolerant  policy  of  the  Government,  and  has 
ever  since  stood  unrivalled  and  undisputed  as  the 
one  great  authority  upon  this  subject. 

In  the  first  Preliminary  Dissertation  to  the  Encyclo- 
paedia Britannica,  Mr.  Dugald  Stewart  has  preserved 
for  us  a  very  remarkable  correspondence  between  Sir 
Isaac  Newton  and  John  Locke.  Sir  Isaac  had,  as 
he  was  afterwards  convinced,  seriously  misunderstood 
some  of  Locke's  positions,  and  had  condemned  them 
with  great  severity.  In  a  letter  to  Locke  he  ex- 
presses the  deepest  regret,  on  this  account,  -and 
humbly  implores  his  forgiveness.  Locke's  reply  is  a 
model  of  manly  Christian  feeling. 

We  pass  thus  naturally,  in  the  consideration  of  the 


1 6  Representative  Men  of  the 

great  men  of  the  English  Revolution,  from  John 
Locke  to  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  and  from  the  realm  ot 
metaphysics  to  that  of  natural  philosophy.  That 
the  enormous  development  of  industrial  interests  and 
of  scientific  discovery,  in  modern  times,  has  been  de- 
pendent upon  a  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  nature,  no 
one  will  doubt.  The  fact,  then,  that  Sir  Isaac  Newton 
lived  in  the  period  of  the  English  Revolution  marks 
that  period  as  the  most  memorable,  in  all  history,  for 
the  discovery  of  the  fundamental  laws  of  nature. 
The  discovery  of  these  laws  by  Sir  Isaac  Newton, 
and  the  wonderful  instrumentalities  for  investigation 
and  calculation  which  he  devised,  have  made  him, 
more  than  any  other  man,  a  great  impelling  power  in 
the  stupendous  industrial  and  scientific  development 
of  the  last  two  hundred  years. 

Sir  Isaac  Newton  was  born  in  1642,  and,  though 
apparently  of  feeble  constitution,  lived  to  more  than 
eighty-four  years  of  age,  and,  during  almost  the  whole 
of  this  period,  with  rare  intervals  of  prostration,  was 
able  to  perform  a  prodigious  amount  of  mental  labor. 
Under  William  III.  his  great  services  to  science  were 
recognized ;  and  the  king,  in  1694,  made  him  Warden 
of  the  Mint,  in  which  office  his  chemical  and  mathe- 
matical abilities  enabled  him  to  superintend  success- 
fully the  difficult  work  of  the  recoinage  of  the  money 
of  the  realm. 

The  principal  discoveries  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton  were 


JOHN    LOCKE. 


English  Revolution.  17 

those  of  the  composition  of  light,  of  the  attraction  of 
gravitation,  and  of  fluxions,  or  of  the  integral  and 
differential  calculus.  All  these  are  of  the  utmost  im- 
portance in  scientific  inquiry  and  mechanical  inven- 
tion's. 

The  extraordinary  penetration  of  Newton's  mind 
and  the  accuracy  of  his  method  are  wonderfully  in- 
dicated in  the  fact  that  some  of  his  discoveries  have 
been  assailed,  and  unsuccessfully,  by  men  of  the 
highest  intellectual  ability.  Bishop  Berkeley,  with 
all  the  power  of  his  keen  and  subtle  intellect,  con- 
tested the  principles  involved  in  fluxions  ;  and  Goethe, 
in  his  Farbenlehre,  has  passionately  attempted  to 
controvert  the  doctrine  of  the  composition  of  light ; 
but  the  Newtonian  theories  hold  their  place  as  estab- 
lished facts.  It  is  true  that  previous  investigations 
had  largely  prepared  the  way  for  the  discoveries  of 
Sir  Isaac  Newton,  and  that  he  must  share  with  Leib- 
nitz the  glory  of  having  devised  the  integral  and 
differential  calculus.  But  no  man  who  ever  lived,  if  we 
except  Kepler,  has  had  the  genius  of  discovery  which 
Newton  possessed.  His  power  of  sustained  inves- 
tigation and  profound  thought,  his  entire  emancipa- 
tion from  the  influence  of  preconceived  ideas,  and  his 
marvellous  insight  into  nature,  make  him  pre-emi- 
nently the  great  discoverer  in  the  realm  of  natural 
philosophy. 

In  considering  the  services  which  Sir  Isaac  New- 
3 


1 8  Representative  Men  of  the 

ton  rendered  to  science,  it  is  fitting  that  some  allu- 
sion should  be  made  to  the  astronomer  Halley. 
The  latter  had  for  some  time  been  carefully  studying 
Kepler's  laws,  and  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
"the  centripetal  force  must  decrease  in  proportion  to 
the  squares  of  the  distances  reciprocally."  Kepler 
was  unable,  however,  to  give  mathematical  or  geo- 
metrical expression  to  this  conclusion.  He  con- 
sulted, in  the  first  place,  Mr.  Hooke  and  Sir 
Christopher  Wren ;  but  they  were  unable  to  give 
him  the  information  he  .desired.  He  then  went 
to  Cambridge  to  consult  with  Sir  Isaac,  who  imme- 
diately furnished  him  with  the  process  by  which 
the  conclusion  was  reached. 

Halley  urged  that  it  should  be  given  to  the  world, 
and  the  result  was  the  "  Principia  Mathematica 
Philosophise  Naturalis,"  which  was  thereupon  pub- 
lished under  Halley's  care  and  at  his  expense ;  and, 
furthermore,  with  an  appropriate  introduction,  was 
by  him  presented  to  James  II.  in  1686. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  measure  the  vast  extent 
of  Newton's  influence  upon  scientific  progress  in  Eng- 
land and  throughout  the  world ;  but  it  is  safe  to  say 
that  there  has  been  no  great  scientific  discovery,  and 
no  triumph  of  engineering  skill  for  nearly  two  cen- 
turies, which  has  not  been  immensely  indebted  to 
the  methods  and  instrumentalities  devised  by  him. 

As  we  stand,  in  this  centennial  year  in  our  coun- 


ISAAC    1STEITTON 


Grcvoe  cLdprcf  la.  ALzcLiilLc,  Ic 


English  Revolution.  19 

try's  history,  in  the  presence  of  the  vast  exhibition 
of  the  industry  of  all  nations,  we  can  approach  nearer 
perhaps  than  in  any  other  way  to  an  estimate  of 
what  Sir  Isaac  Newton  has  accomplished  for  man- 
kind. 

The  discovery  of  the  attraction  of  gravitation  has 
given  accuracy  and  precision  to  those  calculations 
upon  which  safety  in  commerce  so  largely  depends  ; 
and  these  products  of  the  natural  resources  and  in- 
dustry and  art  of  the  most  distant  portions  of  the 
world  testify,  therefore,  to  the  indebtedness  of  man- 
kind to  the  great  discoverer. 

The  artist  owes  to  the  discovery  of  the  composite 
character  of  light  much  of  the  facility  with  which 
brilliant  effects  in  color  are  produced.  And  all  this 
stupendous  sweep  of  machinery,  so  instinct  with 
skill  and  power,  is  the  expression  of  mathematical 
processes  which  the  calculus  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton  has 
alone  rendered  possible. 

In  passing  to  the  literary  character  and  influence 
of  this  period,  no  one  can  be  compared,  for  a  mo- 
ment, as  the  representative  man,  with  Jonathan 
Swift.  Of  obscure  birth,  a  great  part  of  his  life 
spent  in  little  better  than  menial  positions  and  in  bit- 
ter penury,  he  raised  himself,  at  last,  by  sheer  intel- 
lectual power  to  an  equality  with  the  most  distin- 
guished men  of  the  realm.  He  was  born  in  1667, 
and  died  in  1741,  and  thus  his  life  was  contemporary 


2O  Representative  Men  of  the 

with  the  great  events  of  the  English  Revolution. 
Although  an  ecclesiastic  and  the  Dean  of  St.  Pat- 
rick's Cathedral,  Dublin,  it  is  as  a  political  satirist 
that  he  is  best  known  to  the  world.  In  this  sphere 
of  literature  he  has  probably  never  been  equalled  by 
any  writer  in  the  English  language ;  and  although 
the  controversies  which  called  forth  his  principal  pro- 
ductions have  long  since  passed  away,  his  mastery 
of  his  mother  tongue,  and  the  intense  keenness  of 
his  satire,  have  secured  for  him  an  easy  pre-eminence 
down  to  the  present  day. 

After  leaving  the  University,  Swift  was  employed 
as  an  amanuensis  by  Sir  William  Temple,  at  a  salary 
of  ^20  a  year.  This  relation  was  bitterly  humiliat- 
ing to  Swift,  who  was  conscious  of  possessing  abili- 
ties incomparably  superior  to  those  of  his  patron. 
These  abilities  seem  to  have  been  to  some  degree 
recognized,  however  inadequately  they  may  have 
been  rewarded,  by  Sir  William  Temple.  He  em- 
ployed Swift,  on  a  certain  occasion,  to  present  his 
views,  on  the  question  of  triennial  parliaments,  to 
William  III.,  who  had  requested  his  opinion  on  that 
subject.  The  king  seems  to  have  been  more  im- 
pressed with  his  physical  than  his  intellectual  supe- 
riority, and  offered  him  a  troop  of  horse.  This  pro- 
position was  subsequently  commuted,  it  would  appear, 
for  a  promise  of  some  Church  preferment.  Swift 
accordingly  gave  up  his  position,  and  took  orders  in 


English  Revolution.  21 

Ireland.  Shortly  afterwards,  however,  he  returned 
to  England,  and  entered  again  into  the  service  of 
Sir  William  Temple,  with  whom  he  remained  until 
the  death  of  the  latter,  in  1698. 

Swift,  having  made  the  best  use  of  the  opportuni- 
ties for  acquiring  political  knowledge  afforded  him 
during  his  residence  with  Sir  William  Temple,  now 
entered  upon  his  career  as  a  political  writer.  He 
first  devoted  his  extraordinary  powers  of  sarcasm 
to  the  service  of  the  Whigs  ;  but  subsequently  joined 
the  Tories,  in  behalf  of  whose  cause  most  of  his  lit- 
erary labors  were  undertaken.  Swift's  first  prose 
publication,  "The  Battle  of  the  Books,"  bears  marks 
of  his  resentment  against  his  kinsman,  Dryden,  who 
had  once  said  to  him,  "  Cousin  Swift,  you  will  never 
be  a  poet."  This  work  was  followed  by  the  "  Dis- 
course on  the  Dissensions  in  Athens  and  Rome," 
written  in  the  Whig  interest,  and  shortly  after  by 
that  extraordinary  publication,  the  "  Tale  of  a  Tub." 
About  this  time  occurred  the  conversion  of  Swift  to 
the  doctrines  of  the  Tory  party,  and  ultimately  to  the 
extreme  and  exclusive  position  of  Bolingbroke.  He 
was  rewarded,  by  a  Tory  Ministry,  with  the  Deanery 
of  St.  Patrick's  Cathedral,  Dublin. 

There  is  no  occasion  to  deal  here  with  questions 
involving  the  personal  character  of  Dean  Swift. 
Suffice  it  to  say,  that  in  regard  to  certain  most  ex- 
traordinary and  romantic  incidents  in  his  life,  what- 


22  Representative  Men  of  the 

ever  suspicious  circumstances  there  may  have  been, 
they  are  readily  explicable,  without  reflecting  upon 
the  purity  of  his  character,  but  not  without  leaving  a 
most  painful  impression  of  his  selfishness  and  heart- 
lessness. 

Dean  Swift  was  a  man  of  intensely  bitter  preju- 
dices and  hatred,  and  this  quality  imparts  sometimes 
a  venom  to  his  satire.  He  hated  not  only  his  ene- 
mies, but  apparently  the  whole  race ;  no  class,  how- 
ever exalted,  escaping  his  ridicule.  An  example  of 
the  ferocity  of  his  wit  is  to  be  found  in  a  celebrated 
passage  of  his  in  regard  to  the  Irish  bishops.  He 
says :  "  It  is  quite  a  mistake  to  blame  the  English 
Government  for  sending  us  bad  bishops ;  it  is  invari- 
ably careful  to  select  men  of  the  purest  morals  and 
most  fervent  piety.  The  misfortune  is,  that  as  these 
estimable  prelates  cross  Hounslow  Heath,  on  their 
way  to  their  dioceses,  they  are  invariably  stopped 
and  murdered  by  the  highwaymen,  which  unprin- 
cipled persons  assume  their  robes  and  their  patents 
and  come  over  here  in  their  place,  to  the  injury  and 
scandal  of  true  religion  among  us."  Another  in- 
stance of  the  terrible  irony  of  his  satire  is  to  be  found 
when  he  is  commenting  upon  legislation  in  regard  to 
the  poor,  and  proposes  the  fattening  of  the  babies  of 
the  lower  classes  in  order  to  furnish  an  additional 
source  of  food. 

The  relation  of  Dean  Swift's  influence  to  the  prog- 


English  Revolution.  23 

ress  of  the  nation,  upon  the  basis  of  the  Revolution, 
is  a  very  interesting  subject  for  consideration.  He 
became,  by  the  force  of  circumstances,  and  probably, 
also,  from  the  necessities  of  his  own  temperament, 
intensely  conservative.  Having-  rendered,  early  in 
life,  distinguished  services  to  the  Whig  party,  and 
thus  given  his  powerful  influence  to  the  principles 
of  the  Revolution,  he,  later  in  life,  gave  the  vast 
power  of  his  intellect  to  the  most  extreme  form  of 
Toryism.  This  fact  in  the  career  of  Swift  is  a  sug- 
gestive one.  Its  significance  would  seem  to  be  that 
satire,  like  that  of  Dean  Swift,  is  very  apt  to  ally 
itself  finally  with  that  cause  which  is  narrow  and  ex- 
clusive, whether  in  Church  or  State.  Genial  satire, 
like  that  of  Rabelais  or  Cervantes,  allies  itself  natu- 
rally with  the  cause  of  progress  and  reform ;  but  the 
sardonic  wit  of  a  satirist  like  Dean  Swift,  indicates  a 
want  of  faith  in  man  and  of  hope  in  his  future,  which 
is  inconsistent  with  anything  large  and  generous  in 
political  ideas.  It  moves  in  the  sphere  from  which 
solid  argument  and  enlightened  reason  are  neces- 
sarily excluded.  Notwithstanding,  therefore,  the 
splendid  abilities  of  Dean  Swift,  and  the  powerful 
influence  which  in  his  lifetime  he  exercised,  he  has 
left  no  political  lesson  for  posterity.  He  has  aided 
in  the  solution  of  no  great  social  problem,  has  con- 
tributed nothing  to  the  alleviation  of  the  condition  of 
the  laboring  and  the  poor.  He  is  remembered  chiefly 


24  Representative  Men  of  the 

for  his  literary  pre-eminence  and  the  brilliant  halo 
which  he  cast  over  the  reigns  of  William  and  Mary 
and  of  Anne. 

In  our  consideration  of  the  intellectual  influences 
of  this  period,  we  pass  naturally  to  the  career  of  John 
Dryden.  Many  English  poets  have  largely  influ- 
enced the  political  and  literary  tendencies  of  the 
period  to  which  they  belonged,  but  Dryden  was  pre- 
eminently a  political  poet,  and  actually  founded  a 
new  school  of  English  literature.  He  is,  therefore, 
not  only  one  of  the  representative  men  of  the  period 
we  are  considering,  but  is  one  of  the  great  names  in 
English  history. 

Dryden's  early  literary  career  was  not  very  full  of 
promise.  He  wrote  with  great  rapidity,  and  with 
consequent  carelessness.  His  success,  however,  was 
sufficient  to  excite  the  envy  and  hatred  of  the  Earl  of 
Rochester  and  the  Duke  of  Buckingham.  The  Earl 
of  Rochester  subjected  him  to  a  most  unfair  mortifi- 
cation at  court,  and  the  Duke  of  Buckingham  made 
his  productions  the  subject  of  ridicule  in  the  "  Re- 
hearsal." In  revenge  for  these  attacks,  Dryden  pub- 
lished an  "  Essay  on  Satire,"  which  administered  a 
severe  castigation  to  the  Earl  of  Rochester,  and  "Ab- 
salom and  Achitophel,"  in  which  the  character  of 
Zimri  is  drawn  as  representative  of  that  of  the  Duke 
of  Buckingham.  Dryden  wrote  in  1680  a  transla- 
tion of  two  of  Ovid's  Epistles,  and  in  1682  his  "  Reli- 


DRYDEN. 


English  Revolution.  25 

gio  Laid,"  which  he  intended  to  be  a  defence  of  Chris- 
tianity. In  the  reign  of  James  II.,  Dryden  wrote,  in 
justification  of  his  change  in  religious  sentiments,  "A 
Defence  of  the  Papers  left  by  the  late  King,"  and  his 
celebrated  poem,  "The  Hind  and  the  Panther." 
These  were  followed  by  the  satirical  poem,  "  Mac- 
Flecknoe,"  by  several  translations  from  French  and 
Latin,  by  the  grand  version  of  the  works  of  Virgil, 
and,  in  extreme  old  age,  by  the  famous  "  Ode  to 
St.  Cecilia's  Day." 

The  irffluence  of  Dryden  upon  English  literature, 
and  especially  upon  English  poetry,  has  been  marked 
and  powerful.  As  Lord  Macaulay  well  says  of  him, 
he  did  not  belong  to  the  highest  class  of  poets,  but 
in  the  second  class  he  stood  first.  It  must  be  re- 
membered, however,  that  a  great  change  took  place 
in  Dryden  during  his  literary  career,  and  that  it  is  to 
the  works  written  in  the  latter  part  of  his  life  that  his 
fame  and  influence  are  due.  The  great  service 
which  he  rendered  to  literature  is  to  be  found  in  the 
capabilities  of  the  English  language  which  he  devel- 
oped. Before  his  time  it  had  not  yielded  readily  to 
varied  and  complex  versification,  and  had  successfully 
resisted  the  efforts  which  had  been  made  to  make  it 
the  vehicle  of  scientific  expression  or  of  logical  pro- 
cesses in  a  poetical  form.  In  Dryden,  however,  it 
found  a  master.  There  is  a  marvellous  felicity,  dig- 
nity, and  clearness  in  Dryden's  later  productions ;  and 
4 


26  Representative  Men  of  the 

after  a  long  interval,  in  which  succeeding  poets  seem 
to  have  profited  little  by  his  success,  his  influence  is 
apparent  in  some  of  the  best  poetry  of  this  and  pre- 
ceding generations.  Wordsworth's  lucidity  of  expres- 
sion, and  the  wonderful  command  of  language  and 
varied  forms  of  versification  which  so  remarkably 
characterize  the  poems  of  Shelley  and  Tennyson, 
may  be  traced  largely  to  the  influence  of  Dryden. 
Dryden  was  born  in  1631,  and  died  in  1701.  He 
was  contemporary,  therefore,  for  many  years,  with 
the  influences  which  were  leading  to  the  -  English 
Revolution.  His  political  opinions  seem  at  first  to 
have  been  liberal.  On  the  death  of  Oliver  Crom- 
well we  find  him  writing  a  poem  in  honor  of  the 
Lord  Protector ;  but  he  wrote  poems  with  equal  zeal 
in  eulogy  of  Charles  II.,  and  followed  the  Stuart  dy- 
nasty, with  ready  service,  in  all  its  subsequent  retro- 
grade and  despotic  career.  Under  Charles  II.  he 
was  made  poet- laureate  and  historiographer  to  the 
crown.  In  the  reign  of  James  II.  he  so  far  consulted 
the  prevalent  sentiment  at  court  as  to  become  him- 
self a  Roman  Catholic.  After  the  accession  of  Wil- 
liam and  Mary,  this  fact  disqualifying  him  for  office, 
he  lost  these  positions,  with  the  emoluments  attached 
to  them,  and  for  the  last  twelve  or  thirteen  years  of 
his  life  was  dependent  entirely  upon  literary  labor 
for  his  support.  These  political  changes  need  not 
be  regarded  necessarily  as  the  results  of  interested 


EDWARD  ST1LLTNGFLEET.D.D. 
Bifliop  of  Worcefter. 


English  Revolution.  27 

motive.  They  proceeded  rather  from  the  easy  yield- 
ing of  the  poet  to  the  prevalent  influences  around 
him.  It  is  remarkable,  however,  that  the  two  men 
most  distinguished  in  literature,  in  that  period- 
Jonathan  Swift  and  John  Dryden — should  have  re- 
sisted the  tendencies  which  \\ere  leading  to  a  new 
era  in  the  history  of  England.  The  result  is  a  sig- 
nificant indication  that  no  amount  of  intellect,  or  bril- 
liancy of  wit,  or  keenness  of  satire,  can  long  arrest 
the  progress  of  a  nation  in  the  development  which, 
through  the  influences  of  race,  of  culture,  and  of 
physical  conditions,  has  been  predetermined  for  it 
by  the  Almighty  Ruler  of  the  world. 

Ecclesiastical  reform  was  a  subject  of  very  great 
interest  to  William  III.;  and  few  men  have  ever  been 
more  fitted  to  counsel  and  to  guide,  in  such  a  work, 
than  Edward  Stillingfleet.  He  acquired  an  extra- 
ordinary reputation,  when  only  about  twenty-four 
years  of  age,  by  the  publication  of  his  great  work  : 
"  Irenicum,  or  the  Divine  Right  of  Particular  Forms 
of  Church  Government  Examined."  There  were 
views  expressed  in  this  work  which  Stillingfleet  sub- 
sequently modified,  but  it  was  the  first  utterance  of  a 
purpose  which  was  the  guiding  principle  of  his  life. 
This  purpose  was  the  promotion  of  ecclesiastical 
unity  by  large  toleration  and  comprehensiveness. 
In  advocacy  of  these  views,  and  of  Christianity  gen- 
erally, he  wrote  not  only  the  work  just  referred  to, 


28  Representative  Men  of  the 

but  the  "  Origines  Sacrae  ;  "  two  smaller  works,  one  on 
the  Mischief,  and  the  other  on  the  Unreasonableness 
of  Separation;  the  "Origines  Britannicse ;  "  several 
treatises  against  Popery,  and  controversial  works 
against  Socinianism,  and  some  of  the  principles  and 
arguments  of  Mr.  Locke.  Of  course  StilHngfleet's 
views  as  to  comprehension  and  toleration  found  no 
favor  in  the  reigns  of  the  second  Charles  and  the  se- 
cond James,  but  in  William  III.  he  found  a  monarch 
who  held  the  most  statesmanlike  and  Christian  views 
upon  this  subject.  William  almost  immediately,  upon 
Irs  accession,  addressed  himself  to  the  solution  of  this 
great  problem.  The  difficulty  was  an  inheritance  from 
the  Reformation.  The  divergencies  of  theological 
and  ecclesiastical  opinion  were,  on  the  whole,  wisely 
managed  during  the  first  century  of  this  period,  but 
the  ecclesiastical  measures  adopted  at  the  Restora- 
tion rendered  separation  a  permanent  element  in 
English  history. 

William  hoped  that  it  was  not  too  late  to  heal  the 
difficulties  which  had  arisen.  He  therefore  appointed 
an  ecclesiastical  commission,  of  which  Stillingfleet 
was  one  of  the  principal  members,  with  directions 
that  they  should  revise  the  Liturgy,  so  as  to  do 
away,  if  possible,  with  the  objections  of  the  non-con- 
formists. Parliament  also  took  in  hand  the  subject 
of  toleration  and  comprehension.  The  legislation, 
however,  which  was  finally  secured,  was  very  im- 


SIR    W.    TEMPLE. 


English  Revolution.  29 

perfect  in  its  kind  and  degree,  and  the  ecclesiastical 
commission  at  last  closed  its  sessions  without  report- 
ing- the  result  of  their  labor.  This  failure  in  church 

o 

reform  may  have  been  owing-  largely  to  apprehen- 
sions in  regard  to  the  non-juring  schism,  and  to  the 
feeling,  on  the  part  of  the  Government,  that  measures 
designed  to  conciliate  the  non-conformists  might  pro- 
voke new  secessions  to  the  non-jurors. 

The  principles  which  guided  Stillingfleet  in  these 
great  questions  were  right  and  true ;  but  it  is  better, 
probably,  that  they  did  not  take  form  at  that  time  in 
the  measures  proposed.  There  are  certain  processes 
in  society  which  are  of  slow  development.  They 
depend  upon  the  growth  and  diffusion  of  reason  and 
right  feeling,  and  any  attempt  to  hasten  their  de- 
velopment, without  the  presence  of  the  concurrent 
conditions,  will  impair  their  efficiency,  and  prevent 
the  final  attainment  of  the  natural  and  healthful 
result. 

The.  consideration  thus  far  of  the  representative 
men  of  the  period  of  the  English  Revolution  has  led 
us  from  the  realm  of  metaphysics,  through  the  paths 
of  natural  philosophy,  literature  and  poetry,  theology 
and  Church  polity,  to  the  sphere  of  public  affairs  and 
statesmanship.  It  does  not  seem  difficult  to  select 
the  representative  man  of  the  period  in  this  sphere. 
Sir  William  Temple  has  claims  to  that  position  which 
it  would  be  idle  to  deny.  This  will  appear  from  a 


30  Representative  Men  of  the 

brief  consideration  of  the   place  which   he  filled   in 
public  affairs,  from  the  Restoration  to  the  Revolution. 
Soon  after  the  accession  of  Charles  II.,  the  relations 
between  England  and  Holland,  which  had  been  cor- 
dial and  intimate  in  the  time  of  Cromwell,  were  seri- 
ously disturbed.     The  sympathies  of  the  court  were 
with  France,  and,  under  cover  of  that  sympathy,  Louis 
XIV.  began  to  carry  out  the  favorite  project  of  his 
life,  the  annexation  of  the  Spanish  provinces  upon 
the  eastern  frontier  of  France.     This  project  was  of 
course  full  of  peril  both  to  England   and   Holland. 
The  dissatisfaction  in  England  with  the  position  of 
the   Government  was  very  great.     At  this  juncture 
Sir   William    Temple    requested   permission    of  the 
Government  to   visit   Holland  and  confer  with  the 
Government  of  that  country  upon  the  condition  of 
affairs.     At  that  time  John  De  Witt  ruled  Holland. 
The  result  of  negotiations,  which   were  carried  on 
with  great  ability  on  both  sides,  was  that,  on  January 
i,    1668,   Charles,  in  council,  declared  his   approval 
and  acceptance  of  the  league  proposed  by  De  Witt 
and  Temple.     This  league,  in  which  Sweden  joined, 
and  which  is  known  as  the  Triple  Alliance,  was  the 
first  real  check  to  the  schemes  of  Louis  of  France, 
and  foreshadowed  the  great  coalition  of  which  Wil- 
liam III.  was  the  head. 

It  soon  became  evident,  however,  that  the  Govern- 
ment of  England  must  learn  a  terrible  lesson  before 


English  Revolution.  3 1 

the  obligations  of  the  Triple  Alliance  could  be  ful- 
filled. Sir  William  Temple,  as  ambassador  to  the 
Hague,  found  himself  constantly  embarrassed  and 
frustrated  by  the  secret  sympathy  of  the  court  with 
France.  He  withdrew  from  Holland,  retired  to  his 
country-seat  in  England,  and  devoted  himself  to 
authorship.  Then  was  the  whole  aspect  of  affairs 
changed.  England  and  France  declared  war  against 
Holland.  The  wildest  consternation  prevailed 
throughout  the  United  Provinces.  De  Witt  was 
torn  in  pieces  by  a  mob,  and  Protestantism  through- 
out Europe  seemed  in  danger  of  being  over- 
thrown. 

It  was  impossible  that  such  an  unnatural  alliance 
as  that  of  England  and  France,  against  Holland, 
should  long  continue.  Public  sentiment  in  England 
asserted  itself  so  fiercely  that  the  king  was  powerless 
to  continue  the  war.  There  was  but  one  course  to 
pursue,  and  the  author  of  the  Triple  Alliance  was 
recalled  from  his  retirement,  and  charged  with  the 
responsibility  of  negotiating  a  separate  peace  with 
Holland. 

Upon  the  conclusion  of  peace,  which,  by  Temple's 
influence,  was  speedily  secured,  it  became  evident 
that  a  war  with  France  could  not  be  long  averted. 
It  was  at  this  juncture  that  an  event  occurred,  very 
largely  through  Temple's  agency,  full  of  the  greatest 
importance,  in  the  great  struggle  which  soon  followed, 


32  Representative  Men  of  the 

the  marriage  of  the  Prince  of  Orange  and  the  Princess 
Mary. 

While  the  influence  of  Sir  William  Temple  was 
deeply  felt  after  the  accession  of  William  and  Mary, 
he  did  not  engage  actively  in  public  affairs.  He 
refused,  as  he  had  repeatedly  done,  the  office  of  Secre- 
tary of  State,  and  devoted  his  time  mainly  to  literary 
pursuits.  His  connection  with  the  Revolution  and 
with  the  reign  of  William  III.  is  principally  impor- 
tant on  account  of  the  share  which  he  had  in  shaping 
affairs  which  contributed  so  remarkably  to  the  suc- 
cess of  William  in  the  great  coalition  against  France. 
There  have  been  few  men  who  have  rendered  better 
service  to  their  country,  in  a  great  emergency,  than 
Sir  William  Temple.  There  was  no  one  in  his  age 
who  understood  more  clearly  the  nature  of  the  crisis 
through  which  England  was  passing.  He  lived  to 
see  the  transition  safely  accomplished,  and  died  in 
1699,  at  the  close  of  this  most  eventful  century  in 
England's  history.  His  body  rests  in  Westminster 
Abbey,  the  mausoleum  of  so  many  of  the  mighty 
dead.  His  heart  was  buried  at  Moor  Park,  which  he 
loved  so  well,  and  beneath  the  sun-dial  which  had 
measured  the  days  and  years  of  the  extraordinary 
period  in  which  the  great  statesman  had  lived. 

This  consideration  of  the  representative  men  of 
the  period  of  the  English  Revolution  needs,  for  its 
completeness,  some  notice  of  the  career  of  the  Duke 


JOHN,    DUKE    OF    MARLBOROUGH. 


English  Revolution.  33 

of  Maryborough,  by  whose  power  and  genius  in  the 
field  the  results  of  that  great  Revolution  were  per- 
manently secured. 

It  is  not  necessary,  in  this  notice,  to  consider  the 
career  of  Marlborough  except  as  it  has  a  direct  bear- 
ing upon  the  facts  and  principles  involved  in  the 
Revolution  and  as  it  tends  to  illustrate  the  wonderful 
position  which  William  III.  holds  in  English  history. 
In  this  respect  the  achievements  of  the  Duke  of  Marl- 
borough,  as  a  soldier,  are  remarkably  associated  with 
those  of  Sir  William  Temple  as  a  statesman.  Both 
of  them  were  the  chief  instruments  in  carrying  out 
the  great  ideas  and  purposes  of  the  Prince  of  Orange, 
in  regard  to  European  policy.  From  his  earliest  en- 
trance upon  public  life,  William  was  haunted  with  the 
scheme  of  a  great  coalition  against  the  vast  and  in- 
creasing power  of  France,  and  for  the  protection  of 
liberty  and  Protestantism  in  Europe.  He  valued 
men  chiefly  as  they  could  afford  him  aid  in  this  cher- 
ished project. 

Sir  William  Temple's  residence  in  Holland  ren- 
dered him  thoroughly  familiar  with  the  views  of  the 
Prince  of  Orange.  These  views  had  his  unqualified 
approval,  and  his  diplomatic  efforts  were  directed  to 
their  accomplishment  and  to  the  elevation  of  William 
to  the  English  throne.  As  Temple's  political  career 
was  almost  completed  before  the  accession  of  William, 
so  Marlborough's  achievements,  in  maintaining  the 
5 


34  Representative  Men  of  the 

coalition  which  William  created,  had  scarcely  begun, 
when  William  was  removed  by  death.  Born  in  1650, 
the  Duke  of  Marlborough  was  more  than  fifty  years 
of  age  when  he  entered  upon  those  wonderful  cam- 
paigns which  have  reflected  imperishable  glory  upon 
English  arms.  His  military  career,  for  the  most  part, 
followed  the  reign  of  William  and  Mary,  but  it  was 
simply  the  establishing,  by  arms,  of  the  great 
principles  by  which  the  life  of  William  had  been 
governed. 

o 

We  must  not  fail  to  notice,  in  such  an  account  as 
this,  the  peculiar  domestic  circumstances  of  the  Duke 
of  Marlborough  which  exercised  so  large  an  influ- 
ence upon  his  career.  He  married  Sarah  Jennings, 
who  had  been  brought  up  in  the  household  of  the 
Duke  of  York,  afterwards  James  II.,  and  a  strong 
attachment  and  intimacy  existed  between  her  and  the 
second  daughter  of  the  Duke,  afterwards  Queen 
Anne.  The  Duchess  of  Marlborough  had  such  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  political  affairs,  and  so  much 
of  natural  quickness  and  ability,  that,  in  connection 
with  her  position  at  court,  she  was  able  to  exercise 
a  powerful  influence  in  her  husband's  behalf.  He 
was  profited  or  injured  by  the  alternations  of  favor 
or  disgrace  which  occurred  in  the  Duchess's  relations 
with  Anne.  And  yet  such  was  the  great  ability  of 
Marlborough,  that,  even  though  he  might  be  the  vic- 
tim of  neglect  and  ingratitude  in  peaceful  times,  the 


QUEEN    ANNE. 


English  Revolution.  35 

Government  was  compelled  to  seek  his  services  in 
every  great  emergency. 

I  do  not  propose  to  enter  upon  any  of  those  ques- 
tions in  regard  to  the  character  of  the  Duke  of  Marl- 
borough  which  occupy  so  much  of  the  history  of 
the  time.  The  question  of  his  treasonable  relations 
with  James  II.,  or  of  his  avarice  and  parsimony,  have 
no  special  bearing  upon  the  points  now  to  be  illus- 
trated. 

Passing  over  the  earlier  life  of  Maryborough,  we 
come  to  the  period  when  William  III.  recognized  the 
absolute  necessity  of  securing  his  services,  in  order 
to  the  accomplishment  of  his  great  designs.  So 
strong  was  this  conviction  in  the  mind  of  William, 
that  he  ignored  the  supposed  treasonable  practices 
of  Marlborough,  and  determined  to  place  him  in  a 
position  which  would  secure  his  loyalty  to  the  reign- 
ing family. 

The  death  of  Mary  led  to  a  reconciliation  between 
the  King  and  the  Princess  Anne,  from  whom  both  he 
and  the  Queen  had  been  long  estranged.  In  con- 
nection with  this  reconciliation,  the  King  appointed 
the  Duke  of  Marlborough  governor  of  the  Duke  of 
Gloucester,  with  strong  expressions  of  confidence 
and  esteem.  In  the  year  1700  the  condition  of 
things  in  Europe  appeared  exceedingly  unfavorable 
to  the  designs  of  William.  The  crisis  which  precipi- 
tated a  general  European  war  was  the  death  of 


36  Representative  Men  of  the 

Charles  II.,  King  of  Spain.  Louis  XIV.  claimed 
the  succession  for  his  grandson,  Philip,  Duke  of 
Anjou.  The  same  claim  to  Spain  and  all  its  immense 
dependencies  was  made  by  the  Emperor  Leopold. 
Louis  XIV.  was  placed  at  this  time  in  a  specially 
advantageous  position.  He  had  formed  alliances 
with  the  Elector  of  Bavaria,  with  Portugal,  and  with 
the  two  Sicilies.  He  had  secured  a  free  entry  into 
Italy  by  a  treaty  with  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  and  had 
an  opportunity  in  Lombardy  for  a  basis  of  operations 
against  Austria. 

Marlborough,  with  William  III.,  arrived  at  the 
Hague  on  the  first  of  July,  1701,  and  immediately 
commenced  negotiations  which  were  designed  to 
reconstruct  and  extend  the  coalition,  the  foundations 
of  which  William  had  already  laid.  In  these  nego- 
tiations he  displayed  consummate  ability,  and  met  at 
once,  under  circumstances  of  great  discouragement, 
with  remarkable  success. 

It  was  in  the  following  year  that  William  III.  died, 
exhorting  Queen  Anne,  his  successor,  to  rely  upon 
Marlborough  for  counsel  in  the  state  and  for  the 
command  of  her  armies  in  the  field.  Immediately 
upon  her  accession,  she  announced  her  determina- 
tion to  maintain  the  alliances  made  by  her  predeces- 
sor, and,  in  furtherance  of  this  purpose,  it  was  deter- 
mined by  Marlborough  and  the  representatives  of 
the  Emperor  that  war  against  France  should  be 


English  Revolution.  37 

declared,  on  the  same  day,  at  London,  Vienna,  and 
the  Hague. 

After  the  death  of  William,  and  before  the  first 
campaign  of  Marlborough,  some  of  the  smaller  Ger- 
man States  joined  the  alliance.  At  the  opening  of 
the  campaign,  the  allies,  under  the  command  of 
Ginckel,  were  in  the  vicinity  of  Cleves.  Cohorne, 
with  about  10,000  men,  was  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Scheldt.  The  Margrave  of  Baden  was  on  the  Upper 
Rhine.  The  Prince  of  Saarbruck,  with  about  22,000 
men,  was  besieging  Keyserwerth.  The  main  body 
of  the  French  army,  under  the  Duke  of  Burgundy 
and  Marshal  Boufflers,  was  on  the  Meuse  and  in 
the  fortress  of  Liege.  Marshal  Tallard,  with  10,000 
men,  was  marching  to  the  relief  of  Keyserwerth,  and 
the  Count  Delamotte  and  the  Marquis  of  Bedmar 
guarded  the  western  frontier  of  the  Spanish  Nether- 
lands. As  the  result  of  this  campaign,  Keyserwerth 
was  compelled  to  surrender.  The  French  were  com- 
pelled to  retreat,  and  Venloo,  Ruremond,  and  Steven- 
swaert,  fortresses  of  the  Meuse,  were  invested  and 
reduced  by  the  allies.  Liege  was  taken,  and  the 
navigation  of  the  Meuse,  and  the  entire  Dutch 
frontier,  were  wrested  from  the  power  of  France. 

In  the  campaign  of  the  next  year  it  would  seem 
to  have  been  the  main  object  of  Marlborough  to 
get  possession  of  Ostend  and  Antwerp.  It  was  the 
plan  of  Louis  to  push  his  troops,  under  the  Duke  of 


38  Representative  Men  of  the 

Vendome,  through  the  Tyrol,  to  be  joined  by  the 
French  and  Bavarians,  in  a  combined  movement 
upon  Vienna.  The  plans  of  Marlborough  and  Louis 
alike  failed,  and  the  results  of  the  campaign  were 
disappointing  to  both. 

It  was  in  the  next  year  that  the  grandest  achieve- 
ments of  Marlborough  were  made.  With  his  clear 
insight  and  broad  comprehensiveness,  he  saw,  what 
no  one  else,  unless  it  were  the  Prince  Eugene,  was 
able  to  see,  the  exact  thing  which  it  was  necessary 
for  the  allies  to  do.  He  matured  his  plans  and  made 
his  preparations  in  secret,  or  with  the  knowledge  and 
counsel  only  of  the  Prince  Eugene.  When  all  was 
ready,  he  swept,  with  the  allied  armies,  to  the  aston- 
ishment of  all  Europe,  from  the  Moselle  to  the  Dan- 
ube. It  was  a  blow  of  terrible  severity  to  the  French. 
The  same  campaign  witnessed  the  successful  assault 
upon  the  Schellenberg,  and  the  world-renowned 
victory  of  Blenheim. 

Then  came,  in  successive  campaigns,  the  battle  of 
Ramillies,  the  conquest  of  Flanders,  the  battle  of 
Oudenarde,  the  fall  of  Lille,  the  capture  of  Ghent, 
and  the  glorious  battle  of  Malplaquet.  Then  fol- 
lowed one  of  those  periods  which  had  not  been  in- 
frequent in  the  career  of  the  great  Duke.  After  all 
these  marvellous  achievements  by  which  the  French 
power  was  restrained  and  Protestantism  saved,  polit- 
ical jealousy  and  personal  hatred  were  able  to  de- 


English  Revolution.  39 

prive  Marlborough  of  his  command  and  all  his  hon- 
ors. He  retired  from  the  scene  of  his  imperishable 
glory  into  private  life,  and  when  the  peace  of  Utrecht 
was  consummated,  the  results,  though  immensely  im- 
portant and  valuable,  were  less  than  Marlborough 
could  have  secured  for  England  and  the  other  allied 
powers. 

Mr.  Edward  Everett,  in  his  celebrated  oration  on 
the  character  of  Washington,  sees  fit  to  draw  a  com- 
parison or  contrast  between  him  and  the  Duke  of 
Marlborough.  He  represents  himself  as  standing 
before  the  tablet  on  which  are  inscribed  the  names 
of  'the  great  victories  which  Marlborough  won, 
Blenheim,  Ramillies,  Oudenarde,  Malplaquet.  Grad- 
ually, he  says,  as  in  an  ancient  palimpsest,  the  in- 
scription disappeared,  and  in  its  place  were  to  be 
seen  the  words,  Avarice,  Treason,  Eternal  Infamy. 
The  peerless  attitude  in  which  Washington  stands  in 
history  renders  it  unnecessary  that  any  attempt  should 
be  made  to  raise  him  to  a  higher  comparative  eleva- 
tion, by  hurling  others  down  from  the  eminences  of 
their  glory.  I  do  not  care,  as  I  have  already  inti- 
mated, to  enter  upon  a  consideration  of  the  personal 
character  of  the  Duke  of  Marlborough ;  but  I  do 
not  hesitate  to  say  that,  for  the  glory  which  she  has 
gained  in  arms,  England  is  more  indebted  to  him 
than  to  any  other  man,  except  the  Duke  of  Welling- 
ton ;  and  that  for  the  preservation,  in  dire  extremity, 


40  Representative  Men  of  the 

of  a  great  cause,  which  represented  liberty,  intelli- 
gence, and  progress,  the  whole  world  is  more  in- 
debted to  John,  Duke  of  Marlborough,  than  to  any 
man,  except  William,  Prince  of  Orange. 

I  have,  on  another  occasion,  before  this  Society, 
considered,  fully  and  in  detail,  the  life  and  career  of 
William,  Prince  of  Orange,  and  afterwards  William 
III.  of  England.  He  is  the  central  figure,  around 
whom  are  grouped  the  extraordinary  men  whose 
relation  to  the  Revolution  of  1688  we  have  just  re- 
viewed. I  am  confident  that  his  true  place  in  his- 
tory has  not  yet  been  assigned  him.  He  was  grossly 
misunderstood  in  his  own  day,  and  has  been  grossly 
misunderstood  ever  since.  His  position  as  a  for- 
eigner in  England  prevented  the  English  people 
from  a  full  appreciation  of  his  pre-eminent  services 
and  devotion.  He  was  the  object  of  the  most  bitter 
and  deadly  partisan  hatred  and  persecution.  The 
horse  from  which  he  fell,  receiving  an  injury  from 
which  he  died,  was  habitually  toasted  at  Jacobite 
dinners.  Dignified  historians  of  eminent  reputation 
have  not  failed  to  perpetuate  slanders  as  to  his 
personal  character.  The  time  will  come  when  the 
world  will  recognize  his  true  relation  to  one  of  the 
greatest  epochs  in  the  history  of  the  race. 

There  is  one  point  of  view  in  which  it  is  eminently 
fitting  that  we  should  gratefully  cherish  his  memory, 
especially  in  this  centennial  year,  when  everything 


HALLEY. 


English  Revolution.  41 

in  relation  to  the  development  of  this  country  has 
acquired  a  new  significance  and  interest.  William 
III.  was  pre-eminently  the  friend  and  benefactor  of 
the  American  colonies.  Go  to  the  South,  and  there, 
in  old  Virginia,  is  that  imperishable  monument  to  his 
wise  forethought,  the  College  of  William  and  Mary. 
Here,  in  the  City  of  New  York,  you  have  in  our  So- 
ciety Library  the  evidence  of  his  deep  interest  in  the 
intelligence  and  education  of  the  people.  Go  to 
New  England,  and  they  will  tell  you  of  the  depu- 
tation sent  by  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony,  in  the 
person  of  the  venerable  Increase  Mather,  to  remon- 
strate with  the  crown  against  the  withdrawal  of  the 
charter,  and  the  tyrannies  of  Sir  Edmund  Andros, 
and  of  the  kindly  consideration  which  their  repre- 
sentative received  from  William  and  the  extent  to 
which  their  requests  were  granted.  It  is  an  interest- 
ing fact  also  that  the  Government  of  William  III.  in 
1695  vetoed  the  Law  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay 
Colony,  by  which  witchcraft  was  made  punishable  by 
death. 

There  are  other  evidences  also  of  the  deep 
interest  which  William  took  in  the  American 
colonies.  When  sending  the  astronomer  Halley,  of 
whom  I  have  previously  spoken,  upon  a  scientific 
expedition  to  make  experiments  in  regard  to  terres- 
trial magnetism,  he  especially  directed  him  to  call  at 
his  Majesty's  settlements  in  America,  and  make 


42  Representative  Men  of  the 

such  further  observations  as  were  necessary  for  the 
better  laying  down  the  longitude  and  latitude  of 
those  places.  He  also  instructed  the  Earl  of  Bella- 
mont  to  make  provision  for  the  education  of  Negroes 
and  Indians  under  his"  jurisdiction. 

But  these  are  only  an  insignificant  portion  of  the 
services  for  which  we,  in  common  with  the  world,  owe 
him  imperishable  gratitude.  It  is  with  this  senti- 
ment that  .we  have  brought  before  ourselves  these 
forms  of  the  mighty  dead  by  whom  he  was  sur- 
rounded, in  order  that  we  might  the  better,  as  it  were, 
"watch,  fold  by  fold,  the  bracing  on  of  his  Vulcanian 
panoply,  and  observe  with  pleased  anxiety  the  lead- 
ing forth  of  that  chariot,  which,  borne  on  irresistible 
wheels,  and  drawn  by  steeds  of  immortal  race,  is 
to  crush  the  necks  of  the  mighty  and  sweep  away  the 
serried  strength  of  armies." 

The  greatest  benefit,  however,  which  he  conferred 
upon  these  and  the  other  colonies  under  his  domin- 
ion remains  yet  to  be  mentioned.  This  was  the 
establishment  of  the  "Society  for  the  Propagation  of 
the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts."  This  Society,  formed 
and  chartered  by  William  III.,  was,  during  the 
colonial  period,  the  source  of  incalculable  blessings 
of  education  and  religion  to  our  original  thirteen 
States  ;  and  it  continues  to  the  present  day  a  foun- 
tain of  salutary  influence  to  the  Colonies  of  Great 
Britain.  The  formation  of  this  Society  was  one  of 


English  Revolution.  43 

the  last  public  acts  of  his  life.  The  historian  of  the 
Society,  in  concluding  his  work,  uses  the  words : 
"  After  having  rescued  the  Protestant  religion  in 
Europe  and  saved  the  Church  of  England  here,  he 
did,  by  this  last  act  as  it  were,  bequeath  it  to  his 
American  subjects  as  the  most  valuable  legacy  and 
greatest  blessing." 

There  is  something  very  touching  in  the  last  few 
years  and  in  the  final  close  of  the  life  of  William. 
This  period  was  darkened  by  the  bitter  sorrow  which 
he  experienced  at  the  loss  of  his  beloved  wife.  He 
suffered  greatly  from  physical  pain  and  infirmity, 
and  found  himself  more  and  more  alone — a  stranger 
among  a  people  whom  he  loved,  and  most  earnestly 
desired  to  rule  wisely  and  well.  He  pressed  forward, 
however,  most  heroically  in  the  accomplishment  of 
the  great  designs  which  he  had  conceived,  until  his 
sudden  death,  a  consequence  of  a  fall  from  his  horse. 
In  view  of  all  that  he  achieved  for  his  kingdom  and 
for  the  world,  we  may  well  apply  to  him  the  language 
of  Milton  in  the  "  Samson  Agonistes."  He  to  his 
Country 


"  Honor  hath  left  and  Freedom  *     *     * 
To  himself  and  Father's  house  eternal  fame  ; 
And,  which  is  best  and  happiest  yet,  all  this 
With  God  not  parted  from  him,  *     *     *     * 
But  favoring  and  assisting  to  the  end." 


44   Representative  Men  of  the  English  Revolution. 

And  to  him  as  well  as  to  that  noble  band  by  which 
he  was  surrounded,  and  which  has  furnished  us  with 
our  theme  to-night,  may  well  be  applied,  for  the  most 
part,  the  words  of  another  poet : 

"  Walk  lightly  and  with  reverent  tread, 
For  here  we  are  among  the  mighty  dead  : 
In  arts,  in  arms,  in  letters  and  in  verse, 
In  state  and  church  their  lofty  deeds  rehearse. 

They  softened  manners,  purified  the  laws, 
Led  armies  to  success  in  Freedom's  holy  cause  ; 
Some  sat  on  thrones  and  nations  bravely  bore 
The  waves  of  Revolution  safely  o'er. 

To  them  let  monumental  glories  rise, 
And  Fame's  shrill  clarion  pierce  the  skies  ; 
Let  the  loud  bells  and  pealing  cannon's  roar 
Thunder  their  deeds  the  listening  nations  o'er. 

But  let  us  guard  each  prize  for  which  they  fought, 

And  cherish  every  lesson  that  they  taught  ; 

And  may  the  Angel  of  the  nations  pour 

The  treasures  they  have  left,  from  shore  to  shore, 

Through  all  the  ages,  till  the  world  shall  be  no  more. " 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
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RENEWED  BOOKS  ARE  SUBJECT  TO  IMMEDIATE 
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LIBRARY,  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  DAVIS 

Book  Slip-50m-8,'66(G5530s4)458 


N°  457035 

DA460 
De  Peyster,  F. 

An  address  delivered 
before  the  New-York 
historical  society. 


LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
DAVIS 


